"He can't stay here alone Severus, can we keep him?" She asked him with a smile as she finally gave the beast the hay it had been seeking. Severus had no intention of denying her anything that made her smile like that, but when he moved his sleeve from the leather, and noted the words his cleaning had revealed, he knew there was no way they would be leaving the hulking beast behind.

Samuel Smith Shires

The horse's name wasn't actually Samuel, thank goodness, but further investigation found that it was in fact "Theodore".

He didn't know if it was the hormones that caused the reaction, or if she was always like this with animals, but the discovery of the name had prompted a vast amount of kisses on the horses nose, (which must be unsanitary, surely?) along with a slightly higher pitched voice than he was used to her using, as she cooed to the monumental beast in front of her as though it didn't way half a tonne.

"Of course his name's Theodore, it's because he's just a great big teddy bear, isn't it teddy?" Followed by more nose to nose rubbing.

"I fear I'm being cuckolded by an equine" He'd grumbled good-naturedly, still too pleased with her happiness to be truly upset. "Well he is hung like a horse" She'd teased back, and he snorted in laughter. "His hair's longer than mine too, perhaps that's the draw?" He asked with a smirk. She popped over to him and promptly kissed him on the nose. "Nah, I've just got a thing for men with Roman Noses" and sauntered off towards the farm house. Waddled would be more accurate, though he'd already learnt the painful lesson not to refer to it as waddling out loud and within earshot.

He wanted to be jealous of the lumbering beast, the old him certainly would have been, but when it nickered softly to him as he passed, and lipped his arm affectionately, before snuffling his pockets for anything edible he found he couldn't bring himself to have any ill will towards the great beast. It reminded him of Hagrid in a way, obscenely large and frightening to look at, but wouldn't harm a fly.

They spent almost a week at the farm, and it was as long as they could afford. The temptation had been great to stay at the homely little farmhouse, with Teddy and the few chickens that ambled about the farm seemingly unphased by how the world had changed. The temptation was great...but the first night they both agreed their stay would be temporary, and it was too much of a risk. The farm was isolated it was true, but it was also set into a little valley. It gave some protection yes, but should a large hoard pass by them, like it had at the rail house, they would be surrounded with no means of escape.

At first Severus assumed that Hermione intended them to ride Teddy, but she'd just laughed and when he looked affronted had kissed his nose and explained. Firstly that it was quite obvious that Teddy was a driving horse, raised to pull farm machinery whether in actual function or just for sport and that there was a high likelihood that he might never have been trained to the saddle. Which was news to Severus, as he'd assumed all horses were trained for both and not that driving and riding were two separate disciplines altogether. Then she'd explained that though riding a horse his size would no doubt be like riding an 'armchair' as she'd put it, the motion was too much of a risk for her pregnancy and he had quickly agreed it was a bad idea if it posed any risk to her at all.

It was then that Severus had despaired what they were going to do with the great beast which Hermione would refuse to leave behind, imagining leading it all the way to the coast on a lead-rope like a great dog, not that he thought the horse would mind if its disposition was anything to go by, but it wasn't exactly an efficient way to move. Hermione then suggested the idea that changed things dramatically.

"Well he's a driving horse, he's bred to pull a cart...why not drive him to the coast?" Severus stroked his finger over his lips thoughtfully as Hermione stroked one side of his chest idly, her head pillowed on the other side.

"Can you drive a horse?" He asked her cautiously, for the idea certainly had merit. She winced a bit. "I drove a pony in a trap when I was a girl at riding school, they're pretty much nothing more than a bench on wheels but the commands should be more or less the same... I'm not strong enough to hold him though, in my condition"

"What do you mean hold him?" He'd asked with curiosity, all kinds of images flashing through his mind, and she chuckled obviously correctly interpreting the query in his tone. "I mean control him, take the reins. He doesn't seem like he'd be riggy or bolshy, but if he gets spooked, bolts and gets his tongue over the bit, I'd be ..." She trailed off as Severus looked at her with a blank expression and she realised she'd have to simplify things for the man, who had not grown up around horses as she had. "He doesn't seem like the type to be headstrong and misbehave, but if something frightens him then he may bolt, horses are flight animals as you saw. If you have a horse's head, you have the horse. Reins are what give you direction but the bit in the mouth is what gives you control, if he gets frightened and manages to get his tongue over the bit instead of under, he'd take back his head and the control, a horse his size? he could quite literally pull me straight out of the seat" He winced then, and once more at her next words. "I'll show you how, and you'll have to do it, you have the upper body strength".

He'd already come to same conclusion as her, reluctantly, but being able to drive a cart to the coast would not only increase the speed of their journey, but also improve it with being able to carry more supplies and be infinitely less taxing on Hermione. Not only that, but the smell of the horse would hopefully mask their own scent quite well and help them avoid the interest of any nearby immune, who would only take interest in the horse if they were starving and even then be unable to keep pace with it at anything above a walk. It may not be a horse bred for speed, but with something akin to hope in his chest he thought to himself that even a screamer would be unlikely to keep pace with the beast if they pushed it to full speed when in dire need.

Despite the fact he had already made his mind up to do what needed to be done, he certainly didn't turn down Hermione's sultry offer to 'convince' him...She didn't know he had already convinced himself, and he was a Slytherin after all. Once they were both gloriously bathed, thanks to the farms own water supply, he enjoyed having her lips wrapped tightly around his cock until he was groaning, fisting his hands into her hair and spending his release into her mouth. She took every drop of him and he pulled her into his embrace when he was finished.

She was large enough now that he had to spoon her from behind, raising her leg over his to open her up to his attentions. His hands danced over her swollen flesh, and oversensitised by her pregnancy hormones she was quickly coming for his talented fingers and soon after reaching a second peak. By the time she had crested a second time, he was fully hard once more, and he enjoyed having her on her hands and knees on the bed, so that he could enter her from behind. The animalistic grunts of pleasure she made, only spurred him further on. He felt like a caveman as he pounded himself into her, a being reduced to just hormones and instincts. Pleased to have this female as his mate, please to have his offspring in her belly, pleased to have his cock buried in her willing body, and mostly pleased that she seemed just as pleased as him. When she buried her sweaty face in the pillow and came with a strangled yell, as he cunt strangled his cock, he let loose a ragged moan and spilled himself inside her, careful not to crush her with his weight as he sagged to the bed beside her, scooping her as best as he could into his arms as they slept.

6 Days and 6 nights they spent at the farm. Severus killed 3 more immune that wandered through. The days were spent with Hermione coaching Severus on how to drive Teddy. First she showed him what all the 'tack' was and how to use it, including how to put all the harness on and off him. They spent the first two days with Severus walking behind a harnessed up Teddy, learning the different commands and getting a feel for the reins. The next four days were spent driving around the farm and local roads in the small wagon/cart they had found in the barn. It was a simple thing and Hermione guessed that many years ago it may have delivered milk or eggs from the farm to the neighbouring village. But it was big enough for the two of them to sit in the front, and sleep in the back beside their equipment so to them it was as luxurious as any muggle limousine.

Afternoons were spent gathering together all the supplies that they could, and loading them sensibly into the cart, whilst still making sure each had a bag full of essentials they could survive off, should the need arise.

Then the nights were the best of all, spent making love in real bed, until they often fell asleep still intimately connected. It was as though they were in a quiet little bubble that the universe had granted them.

But as morning broke on the 7th day, 3 more immune arrived on the farm and had to be dispatched by Severus. The frequency of their arrival was increasing, as many in one day as they'd receive in the past 6 and they knew it was time to move on.

Stocking up the wagon with as much as they could, including small crates that contained as many of the chickens as they could catch, and horse feed they could find, without pushing poor Teddy too far, they said goodbye to the farmhouse that had been their shelter, their balm to their souls and sanity, and with a click of Severus' tongue, began their journey once more.